ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon women's basketball team did its part to set up next week's showdown for the Cascade Conference championship by running Multnomah out of Lithia Motors Pavilion on Saturday afternoon in a 79-51 drubbing.
The Raiders (24-4 overall, 17-3 CCC) topped off their perfect 13-0 regular season home record in routine fashion, letting their four seniors take the spotlight.
Dominique Harding scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting;
Syd'Nee Fryer had 10 points, six rebounds and three steals;
Kenadee Honaker totaled five points, 10 rebounds, four assists and her 200th career steal; and
Mallory Heard hit one of the team's nine 3-pointers.
The Raiders will take a seven-game winning streak into the penultimate game of the regular season next Friday at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), which will also enter the matchup with a 17-3 CCC record along with an 11-game winning streak. A win there would clinch SOU's first conference title since the 2016-17 season and an automatic bid to the 64-team NAIA National Tournament.
The Lions dropped to 5-21 and 5-14 in the CCC. The Raiders held them to 32-percent shooting a night after sticking Warner Pacific with a 35-percent clip.
Junior guard
Brianna Phiakhamngon and sophomore forward
Kami Walk were also sharp again. Phiakhamngon scored a team-high 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Walk just missed her fourth double-double in five outings, recording 11 points and nine rebounds.
After taking a two-point lead through one quarter, the Raiders outscored Multnomah 26-8 in the second behind Phiakhamngon's eight points and Harding's seven. Honaker sparked them in the third with four offensive rebounds and a steal.
Kalei Iwami added two 3-pointers, making multiple for the fifth consecutive game. She scored nine points.
Dalila Rincan led the Lions with 23.